W-8BEN - Links to IRS documents and tips for form editing

[Fiorenzo]

Some struggle with getting their W-8BEN accepted due to missing or wrong information. Here are a few links PLUS some tips on how to correctly fill in the confusing but crucial section PART II, Point 10.

Links to official IRS website and documents

W-8BEN Form (Oct. 2021 Revision): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw8ben.pdf 

Page with links to all tax treaties documents sorted by country: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/united-states-income-tax-treaties-a-to-z 

How to find your country-specific treaty data and fill in the form correctly:

1. Find and open the most actual/newest tax treaty document between the US and your country
2. Search the Article that handles Royalties - in most cases, it's Article 12 (e.g. UK, IT)
3. Now you need to find the correct paragraph that defines the tax rate for royalties for artistic works that applies to your situation. Both tax rate and paragraph vary from country to country and in some cases, it can get confusing. For Italy (my country), the article is 12, paragraph 3, and the rate is 0%. For the UK it's article 12, paragraph 3, and the rate is 0%.
4. Download and open now the W-8BEN form and fill in your personal data - I won't address this part, because it's usually not a hassle.
5. In Part II / 10 fill in the fields as follows, according to the tax treaty document:
6. Article & Paragraph: Article & paragraph that describe your rate and situation, in the format: ART#(§#) - Examples: UK: 12(1) / IT: 12(3).
7. Rate (%): The % of the tax rate that has to be paid in the US.  If the document states that the taxes are fully paid in your own country, the US tax rate to fill in is 0. Otherwise, enter the rate defined in the document. Examples: Italy and UK: 0 (no taxes have to be paid in the US).
8. Type of Income: "Royalties for the use of artistic work" or similar
9. Additional Conditions: This part is where most struggle and that causes most rejections. Write something like "Creation of artistic works (designs) sold on Zazzle online web stores on a range of goods." (worked for me).
10. Sign the document either digitally or manually (print, sign, and take a pic) and send it via email to Zazzle either as a PDF or a well-readable JPG in the case of a manual signature.

Note that it can get a while until you receive a confirmation from Zazzle that the form has been accepted (even a month or longer). The rule no news = good news applies in this case.

Hope this helped.

[WHS_Designs]

Thanks for sharing the above info.

To add a related question to your thread: often do I have to submit a W8BEN form?

After doing some digging about the WWW, I found this answer: "Unless your circumstances change dramatically, your W-8BEN form will typically remain in effect until the last day of the third calendar year after you sign it. For example, if you submit the form to a U.S. client on December 1, 2019, it will be effective until December 31, 2022."

I submitted my W8BEN form within the past few days and was informed that 2-4 weeks would be the typical response time.

W.H.

[Fiorenzo]

Yes, the forms are valid for 3 years, then you have to resubmit the newest release. I would do it 1 or 2 months before the validity expires to be on the safe side. 2-4 weeks response time is optimistic, it depends on the period of the year and the workload of CS. I got an answer pretty quick in a few weeks the first time when there was an issue (the infamous additional conditions entry). If I remember well (I may be wrong), I didn't get a confirmation, though, after I resubmitted the corrected form. When I renewed the form, I didn't get any confirmation but the payments kept getting paid regularly and correctly. That's why no news = good news.

[Fiorenzo]

Update: added a comprehensive quick list from yale.edu showing the tax rates applying to artistic works for a whole bunch of countries. Please note that it may be outdated in some cases and that you still need to find out the related article's paragraph. Use it for cross-checking. here's the link:

https://your.yale.edu/sites/default/files/income_tax_treaties_for_royalty.pdf 

[Fiorenzo]

One more very helpful link, containing a country list with article/paragraph and royalty rate, plus a shot of the form with filled-in content. Link courtesy of @waterart 

https://eezycontributors.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360040283911-What-is-the-Withholding-Rate-For... 

[chessie]

Amazingly helpful thread and links! these have saved me much time wading through all that Tax information !
Thank you so much 

Chessie.

[Fiorenzo]

I'm glad it helped and I hope it worked in your case. If not, stay tuned, I'll update it with alternate phrasing as soon as I have the related info from the fellow designer who had some issues getting it accepted. Happy designing!

[Fiorenzo]

Update: the phrasing in my original post worked on the second attempt, so it's all fine. If you (or anyone else reading this) have trouble, this shall work. Have a great day!

[XCosmos]

Hi Fiorenzo! First of all, thank you for all the assistance you have provided in this thread.

I have a question about Italy's tax treaty, you said Italy is 12(3), but the link you provided shows 12(2).

Can you clarify for me as I am confused on this point?

Thank you!

[Fiorenzo]

Most welcome. For Italy, the paragraph that handles artistic copyrights is 12(3), not (2). I quote:

"3. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2, royalties
arising in a State and paid to a resident of the other State for
the use of, or right to use, a copyright of literary, artistic
or scientific work (excluding royalties for computer software,
motion pictures, films, tapes or other means of reproduction
used for radio or television broadcasting) shall be taxable only
in that other State if such resident is the beneficial owner
thereof."

Good luck and Happy Easter!

[goodsy]

Thank you very much for this source, I just need to copy and paste from the table, am I right?

[Fiorenzo]

Yes, you can basically take the wording and just replace your personal info and the correct paragraph and percentage. As replied above, in your case it's 13(2) and 15%. If you have problems with acceptance despite all required data being filled in correctly and as a whole, you may try to change the wording of the description section with some alternate text other designers also posted here. Return to this post if you have troubles and we'll have a look together. Good luck!

[goodsy]

Thank you for your reply. I appreciate your help and guidance. I have submitted the form and filled it based on the source you shared from eezy's table (13(b) 10%). If my submission gets rejected, I will make the necessary adjustments according to your suggestions. Thank you again for your support. 🙂

[Fiorenzo]

Careful. It's NOT paragraph (b) that applies to artistic royalties, it's (a) and the rate is 15%, NOT 10%. You need to fill in 13(2) and 15%, as I stated in my two replies.

[goodsy]

Yes you're right, I have revised it and now my form has accepted it's 13(2) and thank you so much for your help, I really highly appreciate, thank you 🙏

[Fiorenzo]

Most welcome. Glad, it worked out. Happy designing!

[goodsy]

Thank you for the step by step, but I'm still not sure to fill the ART and the rate, because there's a difference in my country, should I go with this, article and paragraph : 13(2) and the rate 0% or 15% ?would you please check and thank you in advance https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/indo.pdf

[Fiorenzo]

Most welcome. In your case 13.2(a) applies and the rate is 15%, so fill in 13(2) and 15%.

[Irsa]

Hi @Fiorenzo 

I have submitted my W-8 BEN from on May 19 and I have received email for making some correction. So after doing all the necessary changes in my form I have submitted my W-8BEN form for review on June 8 and I have not received any answer from review team side. Can you tell me how long will it take.

[Fiorenzo]

Hi Irsa

It can take one month or longer. And in this case, no news = good news. I only got emailed the first time I submitted it and like most of us had to make corrections. I never got any emails after doing it right and the renewals afterward (you have to renew all 3 years). So no sleepless nights - wait until you get your first payment, check out if you got the whole amount according to your tax treaty %, and contact them in case something went wrong. In the latter case, they will credit you the missing part on your next payment, after the issue is settled.

[Irsa]

Hi @Fiorenzo 

Thank you for the help but I'm still confused to fill the ART and the rate, because there's a difference in my country, should I go with this, article and paragraph : 8(2) and the rate 0%?  would you please check

[Fiorenzo]

In your case as I understand it's 8(1) and the rate is 0%. (1) includes design royalties and says they're exempt from tax by the former State which is the US. Not 100% sure what is meant in (2), I assume it handles extraordinary cases, e.g. retributions that exceed usual practices and amounts. I would go with 8(1) and 0.

[olikli]

Does anyone know why Zazzle uses this Byzantine system of sending the w-8 ben form by email or fax (!!!) and then taking weeks to months to process? Comparable print on demand or stock photoprahpy sites simply let you fill out the form online with immediate approval. I have been trying to get the form accepted for ages with no success. There always were some issues that needed to be resolved, and replies took ages. I often forgot about it and then started over after a while. It's just a dreadful process compared to other sites.

[Sathya]

@Fiorenzo You are so kind and helpful 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing all this information 🙂 

[dinahasni]

Thank you for sharing this, I'm still waiting Zazzle to accept my W-8BEN and feel anxious about this, please wish me luck

[Fiorenzo]

Most welcome and good luck wished 🙂 Usually, in this case, no answer = good news. If something is wrong you usually get a resp. feedback in a few weeks. In the worst-case scenario that the whole threshold gets deducted, you don't have to worry. After the issues have been solved, you'll get the difference paid out. Welcome on board and happy designing!

[Sathya]

Hi 🙂 @Fiorenzo  My W8-ben form should be re-submitted in order to avail a lower tax rate. The feedback I received is -  Please revise the "Additional Conditions" on the last section in line 10 as what your currently have isn't quite correct. I specified the same phrase as mentioned in this thread. Your thoughts on this will be really helpful. Also I am from India and I did specify 12(2) with 15% tax rate - I hope these both are fine. And the issue is only with the additional conditions line.

[Fiorenzo]

The infamous Additional Conditions part again, I see. This is what I wrote and it got accepted but I know others had issues and there are quite a few different suggestions from different designers that have worked, too. I tried to find these but had no luck and it's late in the night. Perhaps you should open a new thread in "ask a question", refer to exact this one issue and ask for phrases that worked out. This way you may get some additional input that may work out. If this doesn't work out, write an email to Z support, explaining the issue and telling them that the phrases you've submitted already got accepted in other cases. Unfortunately it's a hit or miss. The 12(2) and the 15% rate seem to be correct, did a few checks. Good luck!

[Sathya]

Sure I'll try the same. Thanks again for your valuable inputs 🙂

[Katarina]

Hello @Fiorenzo,

firstly I am happy that I found this community support discussion. I am also struggling to fill in Part II in W8 BEN tax form. I am residing in Slovakia and checked all available resources on how to fill in Part II. I filled in Article 12/2  and rate 0%. Under type of income I entered illustration, print on demand, art and I am assuming this was confusing because I have received the following reply from Zazzle support:

 '' If you wish to receive the benefit of a lower tax rate under the tax treaty between the USA and Slovakia, please provide the information requested in: 

- Please revise section 9 to reflect your country of residence as is written in your payment swettings.

- It looks like your tax rate is lower than it needs to be. This US IRS document will help you find the appropriate tax rate: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/Tax_Treaty_Table_1_2019_Feb.pdf

- You just need to revise your type of income in Part II, line 10. If you are unsure of what this is, we mention it in various places on the website, the below might help: https://help.zazzle.com/hc/en-us/articles/219946287-Updating-Royalties-for-Your-Public-Products

This made me ask your opinion on whether I should simply enter Royalties under type of work instead and then the Article 12/2 and rate 0% for Slovakia for royalties will be correct?

Also I was following the table provided by Zazzle.

Thank you 

Katarina 

[Fiorenzo]

Hi @Katarina 

Glad to help.

First, in section 9. enter the official term "Slovak Republic" in your country of residence, not "Slovakia". I suppose, you live there and have a Paypal account reflecting the same name and address as your Zazzle account. If the addresses don't match, this may be an issue.

Checked the official IRS treaty PDF for Slovakia. As you wrote, the rate is 0% and the Article is 12(2) which refers to 12(3)(a) - Royalties for artistic works. I quote:

ARTICLE 12
Royalties
1. Royalties arising in a Contracting State and beneficially owned by a resident of the other
Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.
2. Royalties described in subparagraph a) of paragraph 3 and beneficially owned by a resident of a
Contracting State may be taxed only in that State. Royalties described in subparagraph b) of paragraph
3 may also be taxed in the Contracting State in which they arise and according to the laws of that State,
but if the beneficial owner is a resident of the other Contracting State, the tax so charged shall not
exceed 10 percent of the gross amount of the royalties.
3. The term "royalties" as used in this Convention means payments of any kind received as a
consideration for the use of, or the right to use:
a) any copyright of literary, artistic or scientific work, including cinematographic films or
films or tapes and other means of image or sound reproduction;

So, in part 10 enter the Article 12(2) and the rate 0%. As "type of income" specify basically what is written in the treaty "Copyright Royalties for the use of artistic work" (what I used myself plus inserted the term Copyright before Royalties to make it "safer"). Last but not least, in the last "Additional Conditions" part, write something like my suggested phrase or similar, like (modified it a bit): "Royalties for artistic work (designs) created on a range of goods to be printed and sold on demand on Zazzle online stores." Note that this "nasty" line may and may not get accepted. In the latter case, check out working variants of other designers.

Good luck!

[Katarina]

Dear @Fiorenzo ,

thank you very much for your valuable advice. Article 12 was difficult for me to figure out since. I am new to Zazzle  and decided to show my work and  contribute to 2 POD and 2 micro stock sites  as of 2024. Hoping to have all documents and data correct and set up. You really helped me review and correct details and align all my W8 BEN forms. I like that Zazzle pays attention and notify if something might not be correct. 

I like your art especially the animal collection and wishing you all the best for your family and business.

Katarina

[Fiorenzo]

Always glad to lend a hand. Went through the same hassles and got helped by fellow designers, too, when I started. Yes, Article 12 is pretty nasty to figure out, and sometimes it's a try and error. In this case, Zazzle is more complicated than other sites. The adjustments should be fine. If you don't hear anything from Zazzle, it usually means it went through.

Thanks for the compliments and same to you. Best wishes from Italy!

[NPL]

Hi Fiorenzo,

I hope i can pick your brain as well on my Dutch W-8BEN form as it is time to renew mine. Since the last one i had to do was 6 years ago, the form has now slightly changed.

Question 6a is Foreign Tax Identification Number, which is my Dutch social security number. No problems do far. But now they have entered question 6b, and i don't now how to fill that in, since i don't even knwo what is means.:

6b. Check if IFTN not legally required

I found out that IFTN is the equivelant of the Dutch BSN number, which is our social security number i.e. Foreign Tax Identification Number,

There are some dots after the question, but there is also a box: should I just tick that?

And/or: Answer with yes? with no? Or repeat my Foreign Tax Identification Number ??

Hope you, or a otherwise a fellow Dutchie, can help....!

[Fiorenzo]

Sorry. seen only now. Had to check it myself and found a related IRS link. See here and look at the explanation of line 6a and 6b: https://www.irs.gov/instructions/iw8ben#en_US_202109_publink1000304465 

Since you are already filling in your BSN number in 6a, you don't need to check the box in 6b. As I understand it's there for the ones who don't have such national identification numbers and leave the field (6a) blank.

Cheers!

[NPL]

took a gamble and send it in, only seeing your post today, but looks like i guessed right 🙂 Now let's hope everything else is ok.

Thanks so much for responding to us all! So kind of you and much apreciated!

Cheers from Holland 🌷

[Fiorenzo]

Good luck & greetings back from Mt. Etna volcano!

[Fiorenzo]

UPDATE JAN 2024:

The W-8BEN comes now with line 6 (holding your national tax ID) split in 6a and 6b. Fill in your national tax ID or social number in 6a and leave the box in 6b unchecked. If you don't have such a number in your country, leave 6a blank and check the box in 6b (note: your country must figure in the IRS exemption list). Here is the link to the IRS documentation, read the explanation of line 6a and b:

https://www.irs.gov/instructions/iw8ben#en_US_202109_publink1000304465 

[Birdycoconut]

A huge thank you as I'm sure you have spared headaches for many of us ! I've spent some time looking for a rate in the treaty, until I found this thread and understood at last what I should be looking for. Best wishes for the New Year 🙂

[Fiorenzo]

Always glad to help, I went through the same hassles when I started and got helped a lot, too. We have a lovely community on Zazzle. All my best back to you, may 2024 be a successful year for all of us.